Hawai‘i State Ethics Commission

Legislator, state employee, and/or state board and commission member may not accept gifts meant to influence or reward their official actions, and they must report any non-exempt gifts over $200 from a single source with interests affected by their work

Legislator, state employee, and/or state board and commission member cannot share nonpublic information they learn on the job or use it for personal or others’ benefit, except when properly reporting back to an organization they officially represent

Legislator, state employee, and/or state board and commission member are not allowed to use their jobs to give themselves or anyone else unfair favors, special treatment, or benefits

State employees may not hire, supervise, promote, fire, or award contracts to relatives or people they live with, or take part in those decisions, unless they fully disclose the relationship and meet narrow ethics-approved exceptions.

Legislator, state employee, and/or state board and commission member may not take official actions that affect their own financial interests or paid outside work, represent others for pay in matters involving their agency or the state, or profit from matters they work on, unless required disclosures are made or limited statutory exceptions apply

State agencies generally cannot award contracts over $10,000 to legislator, state employee, and/or state board and commission member or their businesses unless the process is competitive or publicly disclosed, and they also cannot contract with businesses helped by former agency employees on the same matter within the past two years

Legislator, state employee, state board and commission member, and candidate must regularly file financial disclosure forms by set deadlines showing their recent financial interests, and many of these filings are public records.

After leaving office, former legislator, state employee, and/or state board and commission member may not share or profit from nonpublic information and, for one year, generally cannot represent others for pay in matters they worked on or before the legislature or their former agency

Anyone who lobbies must register with the Hawai’i State Ethics Commission, disclose who they work for and what issues they lobby on, keep the information updated, and file a termination notice when done, with certain self-represented individuals, officials acting in their official roles, media, and limited experts exempt.

Client Organizations who spend $1,000 or more on lobbying, and those who hire lobbyists must regularly report their lobbying expenses and contributions—broken down by type and linked to specific bills or actions—on set dates, but spending to influence elections is not included.

Lobbyists cannot be paid based on the outcome of legislation or administrative actions, and they are prohibited from giving contributions or certain gifts to lawmakers or employees around legislative sessions; any illegal contributions must go to the state election fund.